Ancient Politics

Marcus Licinius Crassus (115-53 BCE) was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. Without his catastrophic ambition, this trailblazing tycoon might have quietly entered history as Rome's first modern political financier. Instead, Crassus and his son led an army on an unprovoked campaign against Parthia into what are now the borderlands of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, losing a battle at Carrhae which scarred Roman minds for generations.

Alexander is arguably one of the most notable Greek figures, immortalized in stories and legends that are commonly used in mythology classes today. With the lingering feeling of discontent after the Persian invasion and the political unrest that surrounded him, his life made for an interesting topic in Plutarch’s works.

Pierre Tallet's discovery of the Red Sea Scrolls—the world's oldest surviving written documents—in 2013 was one of the most remarkable moments in the history of Egyptology. These papyri, written some 4,600 years ago, and combined with Mark Lehner's research, changed what we thought we knew about the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Here, for the first time, the world-renowned Egyptologists Tallet and Lehner give us the definitive account of this discovery and explore how the building of the pyramids helped create a unified state, propelling Egyptian civilization forward.

Ancient philosophy provides us with timeless wisdom while bringing a new light on the way modern thought has been shaped by building on the ancient masters. This audiobook is a careful compilation of essential quotes summarizing each one of the great masters' fundamental ideas. Learn Stoicism from the teachings of both Marcus Aurelius, the emperor, and Epictetus the slave, each one intent on his own quest for the best possible life; discover the essence of ideas, logic and philosophy with Aristotle and his pupil Plato.

Mythology has provided inspiration for storytellers and scientists alike. In this 10-hour audiobook, explore the mythology of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Essential for any student of mythology, literature, or religion. Each subject is 2-5 minutes in length, making the material easy to absorb and navigate.

From the author of Caligula comes a new stand-alone novel in the Damned Emperors series: Commodus. AD 162. Rome is enjoying a period of stability and prosperity. The Empire's bounds are increasing, and two sons are born into the imperial succession for the first time in nearly a century. But all is not as it appears - cracks are beginning to show. The wars have rumbled on too long, and there are whispers of a sickness in the East. Just 30 years later, the Empire will be caught up in civil war, the imperial dynasty ended and Rome burned.

This is the saga of the Hittite King Suppiluliumas, and rings with authenticity and the passion of a world that existed 1400 years before the birth of Christ. They called him Great King, Favorite of the Storm God, the Valiant. He conquered more than forty nations and brought fear and war to the very doorstep of 18th Dynasty Egypt, but he could not conquer the one woman he truly loved.

In the tradition of Daniel Boorstin, the co-founder of Omni delivers an original work of history that demonstrates why modern science rests on a foundation built by ancient and medieval non-European societies. "If you think that modern science is rooted in the golden age of Greece, you owe it to yourself to [hear this] book," says Library Journal.

Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in Koine, Greece as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement.

For the curious minds wanting to uncover the secrets of ancient Greece, for the dreamers wishing to lose themselves in tales of valor, love, and betrayal, and for the scholars desiring a comprehensive yet engaging retelling of the world's most famous myths—this book is your beacon.

Historians have long asserted that during and after the Hannibalic War, the Roman Republic's need to conscript men for long-term military service helped bring about the demise of Italy's small farms and that the misery of impoverished citizens then became fuel for the social and political conflagrations of the late republic. Nathan Rosenstein challenges this claim, showing how Rome reconciled the needs of war and agriculture throughout the middle republic.

Ancient Greece first coined the concept of democracy, yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker - from Plato and Aristotle onward - was ambivalent toward or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is quite simple: The elite perceived majority power as tantamount to a dictatorship of the proletariat. In ancient Greece, there can be traced not only the rudiments of modern democratic society but the entire Western tradition of antidemocratic thought.

From stories of resurrected mummies and thousand-year-old curses to powerful pharaohs and the coveted treasures of the Great Pyramids, ancient Egypt has had an unfaltering grip on the modern imagination. Now, in Egyptian Mythology, Geraldine Pinch offers a comprehensive introduction that untangles the mystery of Egyptian myth.

In 2010, Nick Polizzi did something unimaginable. He assembled a group of eight desperately ill patients from around the world and brought them into the heart of the Amazon rain forest to put the mysterious medicines of native shamans to the test. The healing journey that unfolded would change their lives - and his own - forever. In The Sacred Science, we join Nick as he explores these primordial traditions and learns firsthand what it takes to truly heal ourselves of physical disease, emotional trauma, and the sense of "lostness" that so many of us feel in these modern times.

This is a collection of 15 essays on a variety of occult-themed topics, covering the full spectrum of classic esoteric and related subjects, which include Hermeticism, magic, ancient wisdom and philosophy, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Theosophy, spiritualism, metaphysics, and New Thought by some of the most notable and prominent names in the history of those subjects.

Captured centaurs and satyrs, incompetent seers, people who suddenly change sex, a woman who remembers too much, a man who cannot laugh—these are just some of the colorful characters who feature in the unforgettable stories that ancient Greeks and Romans told in their daily lives. Together they created an incredibly rich body of popular oral stories that include, but range well beyond, mythology—from heroic legends, fairy tales, and fables to ghost stories, urban legends, and jokes. This unique anthology presents the largest collection of these tales ever assembled.

A few years ago, Mark Adams made a strange discovery: Everything we know about the lost city of Atlantis comes from the work of one man, the Greek philosopher Plato. Then he made a second, stranger discovery: Amateur explorers are still actively searching for this sunken city all around the world, based entirely on the clues Plato left behind.

After more than 2,300 years, the Greek philosopher Aristotle still remains one of the most influential thinkers who has ever lived. There was hardly any field of human knowledge in existence during his day in which he did not make a major contribution. Additionally, he probed areas which were never before examined. Indeed, one could make the claim that no individual person has ever known as much about this world as Aristotle. His analyses of zoology and logic paved the way for modern forensic techniques, and for which every scientist down to this day owes him a debt of gratitude.

Pour aller au-delà de la fascination exercée par la civilisation égyptienne, laissez-vous captiver par ses récits mythologiques et apprenez à les décoder pour mieux en comprendre la signification. Comme tous les grands récits façonnés par les Hommes, la mythologie égyptienne tente d'élucider le mystère des origines du monde, le rapport de l'homme à l'univers, aux dieux et à sa propre mort.

Ramesses II ruled the Nile Valley and the wider Egyptian empire from 1279 to 1213 B.C., one of the longest reigns in pharaonic history. He was a cultural innovator, a relentless self-promoter, and an astute diplomat—the peace treaty signed after the Battle of Kadesh was the first in recorded history. He outbuilt every other Egyptian pharaoh, leaving behind the temples of Abu Simbel; the great hypostyle hall of Karnak; the tomb for his wife Nefertari; and his own memorial, the Ramesseum.